gk5

Hey guys a couple weekends ago i took my taco off roading and got a bit too aggressive with it rallying around some moutain road in 4Hi as well as jumping it. Mind you i have a stick and a v6 and am not afraid to use it lol. Basically as we are coming back down the mountain i take one last jump that bottoms out the front and i hear a kind of snap.

After that i begun to hear a slight thumping whenever the truck was rolling in 4wd and it got worse as it went on eventually i could kind of feel each thump and then it will randomly like lock up and jolt the truck to a stop. Once i heard the thumping i slowed down to like 3 mph to try and diagnose the issue.

Ive removed the front skidplates and looked under expecting to see something obviously broken outside but no everything looks perfect, cvs are fine, drieshaft is fine, clamshell mounts are all intact.

So this leads me to believe that i broke something inside the differential but its weird that i can still engage 4wd and drive slowly and the thump will be random until it like locks up up and jolts the truck to a stop. IDK what would cause that A broken ring and pinion?? Any Ideas? Im thinking it will probably be cheaper to pick up a complete 4:10 Front Diff to replace it with then try and fix my clamshell??

gk5

Well the other day I sat my truck on jack stands and got all 4 tires in the air and ran the truck in 4wd to see what I could find. Everything looked fine, both front tires would spin freely until I grabbed one which would then transfer power to the other tire telling me my spider gears are fine I assume?

Could the add unit have gone bad and be locking in and out? How can one tell if the cv's r bad ? Physically they look fine

ThatGuy1295

From what your describing it sounds like a busted diff, ring or pinion gear is missing teeth. Thats why its uneven, and the broken pieces of gear are floating around and randomly locking up the diff.

ThatGuy1295

Its not a super weak diff, so id say you were gettin down

Or its out of oil or just really worn out, which never really happens to front diffs IMO.

And unless you can find a diff near you, (which isnt always easy) Id rebuild it. Gears arent that much $. Might be a good opportunity to change gear ratios front and rear. Not sure what tires your running. But its a thought.

gk5

Getting down I was for sure lol.... The tach is fairly used to seeing the rev limiter. And I was thinking the same about broken bits of gears in the oil causing the random thumping and occasional lock up. So the other day I go to drain the front diff oil to see if i will find bits of metal in the oil and well it seems like no one has ever removed the front drain plug in all 200k of the trucks life.

I had the correct 10mm hex socket and could not get the drain plug to bugde, even heated the housing up a bit and put a wax candle to the plug threads in hopes of getting it to loosen up. But no luck I ended up rounding out the plug. So I've got to weld a nut to the plug and try to remove it again to confirm I've got a bad diff.

Well the gears aren't that expensive but I was thinking of doing bearings as well since the truck has 200k on it? Plied I gotta pay for the gear set up since I don't now how to do diff setup. I'm about to upgrade to some 32 inc tires but I can't afford to re gear both diffs right now so they will stay 4:10

ThatGuy1295

Sounds like a pain. Either that or who ever changed it last waaay over tightened it.
I always tell people not to over torque brake lines, everybody thinks there diesel head bolts or something.
" alright i got 560ft lbs of torque on my ashtray screws, lets go wheeling" lol

Ya 32's and 4.10's are fine with the 3.4. Little on the high side but not a problem. I ran 33's with my 4.10 for a couple months. Only reseon I went 4.56 was towing and to get a little more pep back.

black_taco

iTrader: (2)

I have a complete 4.10 front diff in my truck right now. I will be swapping out complete front diff and complete third for 4.30 E-Locker sometime soon. I suppose this isn't going to help you at all since you probably want the diff sooner than I will get it ripped out but you never know I guess. Thoughts?

gk5

Yea seriously i'm not new to working on cars, i built the one ton k5 in my avatar, and there is no reason in hell that a breaker bar is needed to remove a damn fill plug on an aluminum differential!! lol

Well to be honest let me know when u plan on doing all that, money is a bit tight right now since i will be buying new tires and shocks soon which i actually need vs 4wd which i dont need. If you can give me a decent price on it and shipping isnt a deal killer we can work something out.

black_taco

iTrader: (2)

I will keep you posted.

j-man

i have one from a 99 4x4 5spd 4runner with 150k on it gently used too....same gears...dunno how you'd check to see if they are the same, although i think they are....maybe somone here knows....ill throw it to you for $200...

stockwell45

iTrader: (1)

Have you removed the CV's just to make sure something didn't break off inside the diff? First thing I would check. I've seen a few CV's that look fine from the outside, but are destroyed inside the diff.

gk5

I'm very interested, where is it located?

gk5

BUMP ** Well I've currently got the truck up on jack stands and spun the front driveshaft and put my finger and ear under the front diff and i can definelty hear and feel some interference, it will spin freely for a bit and then will sorta lock up and make noise as if hitting a rough spot in the gears or even as if a broken chunk is getting stuck between the gears.

The front diff oil drain plug is stripped so i haven't been able to drain the front diff oil and look for metal debris but feeling and hearing the rough spot in the front diff seems like pretty good confirmation that the front diff is the issue and not cv's or something esle

SO PLEASE IF SOMEONE HAS A GOOD CONDITION READY TO BOLT IN FRONT CLAMSHELL DIFFERENTIAL WITH ADD AND 4:10 GEARS FOR A 2001 V6 5 SPEED TACOMA PLZ LET ME KNOW I WANT TO GET THIS DONE BEFORE THE SECOND WEEKEND OF JANUARY.

Jman i sent you a private message plz contact me im very interested in the front diff.

zipposrule

i have a front diff i have for sale, not sure of the gear ratio but have the vin of the truck it came out of. where are u located?